1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power driven bending endoscope with detachable insertion portion provided with an insertion body with a bending portion and a power unit equipped with bending drive means for electrically bending the bending portion, which are detachably coupled.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the endoscope has been widely used. The insertion portion of the endoscope is inserted into a body cavity such that the inside of the body cavity is observed. The treatment instrument is inserted into the channel for accommodating the treatment instrument formed in the insertion portion to perform various kinds of therapy and treatment.
Generally, the endoscope having the thin and long insertion portion includes a bending portion provided to the leading end of the insertion portion. The bending portion is structured to rotatably connect a plurality of bending pieces. The bending piece which forms the bending portion is connected to the operation wire. The bending portion is vertically or laterally bent by pulling or loosening the operation wire. The operation wire may be pulled or loosened through rotating operation of the bending knob formed on the operation portion performed by the operator, for example.
Recently, the power driven bending endoscope has been introduced, which is structured to bend the bending portion by pulling and loosening the operation wire using the bending drive means such as the electric motor. In the power driven bending endoscope, the electric motor is operated in accordance with the bending command signal outputted from the bending command means, for example, the joystick formed on the operation portion. The rotation of the electric motor is transmitted to the pulley, for example, so as to be rotated. The bending wire wound around the pulley is pulled or loosened to bend the bending portion.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-275168 discloses the electric flexible endoscope system equipped with the electric flexible endoscope as the aforementioned power driven bending endoscope, which includes predetermined bending detection means for detecting whether the bending portion is at least in one bending state, and predetermined bending informing means for informing that the bending portion becomes the predetermined bending state based on the detection results of the predetermined bending detection means. In addition, the publication discloses, as the predetermined bending detection means, a potentiometer provided in the operation portion of the endoscope.
The electric flexible endoscope system informs the operator that the bending state of the bending portion becomes the predetermined bending state.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-105800 discloses the endoscope device which includes the endoscope device includes the encoder for controlling the rotating speed or the rotating amount of the electric motor. The endoscope device is structured to couple the connector with the connector bearing for guiding the power transmission output portion at the drive side provided at the enclosure of the bending motor controller and the connector at the input side formed in the connector of the endoscope to the predetermined coupled position.
In the aforementioned power driven bending endoscope, the power unit provided outside the operation portion to serve as the bending drive means is detachable with respect to the endoscope, reducing the size and weight of the operation portion and improving the operability.
The endoscope device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-114001 includes a guide portion at the first joint portion disposed in the endoscope, and a guided portion at the second joint portion disposed inside the enclosure in the bending controller as the power unit. In the case where the first and the second joint portions are eccentrically connected with respect to the respective center axes, they may be coaxially connected by means of the guide portion and the guided portion.